Saturday, January 15, 2011

A US judge approved on Thursday the distribution of US$7.5 million settlement filed by thousands of victims of abduction, execution and torture during the regime of the late Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos, according to AP and reported by ABS CBN News.

US District Judge Manuel Real of Hawaii approved the plan to apportion the amount among 7,526 eligible members of the lawsuit claim who will receive US$1,000 each.

The said distribution is expected to commence in the middle of February and will take about a month.

Lead counsel Atty. Robert Swift said that this compensation is very important to the human rights victims who have waited for a very long time fighting for justice.

The Malacañang welcomed the US court's decision on Friday the payment for the victims of the Marcos era.

Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that the government will study the details of the court's decision and which account is involved because the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses are scattered all over the world.

According to Wikipedia, Marcos was the tenth president of the Philippines and ruled between 30 December 1965 and 25 February 1986. He was deposed to Hawaii following People Power revolution in February 1986.

It was alleged that he and his wife, Imelda--the lady with thousands of shoes--have billions of dollars in many countries including the US and Switzerland.

On 28 September 1989, Marcos died of multiple organ failure in Honolulu, leaving behind the reputation as one of the most corrupt and ruthless leaders in modern Asia.

His wife, daughter and son are currently holding elected positions in the country.